The interest which is now extending in the cultivation of the pear has probably induced the American editor to add as much information as possible: and fifteen engravings of the best kinds accompany the descriptions, some of which are quite new. The latter are called the Haddington and Moyamensing, both of which originated on the farm of J. B. Smith, near Haddington, Philadelphia. Both of these have been described, in a letter to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, by Dr. Brinkle, of Philadelphia; but, as we have not found time to insert them before, we copy them here:

"HADDINGTON, (Smith's.) We have, by the merest chance, this excellent addition to our stock of winter pears. Mr. J. B. Smith, when on his farm, near Haddington, Philadelphia County, in 1828, reared, from the seed of the pound pear, a number of young plants for stocks. This one accidentally remained unworked, and, on Mr. Smith's removal to the city, was brought by him and planted in his garden, where it now stands, singularly erect, and with few horizontal branches. It comes into use in December, and keeps through winter. The skin is green; when ripe, slightly yellow on the sunny side, and marked by minute russet dots or specks. The texture of the fruit varies-some are quite melting, others incline to break; it never cracks, bears abundant y, and we conceive it quite an acquisition to our winter pears."

"MOYAMENSING, (Smith's Early Butter.) This is supposed to be a native. It stands in the garden of Mr. J. B. Sinith, l'hiladelphia; is thirty feet high, open in growth, and uniformly sheds its leaves early in August. The fruit vary in shape: some are roundish, others obovate; color, a uniform light yellow. Stem, an inch long—in some specimens set in a shallow basin; in others rising from the crown, with a fleshy and enlarged base. Calyx rather prominent, in a shallow plaited cup. Ripe from middle July to close of August. The texture is buttery-so much like a Beurré as to have received the above synonym. It is a desirable variety."- pp. 432, 433.

The Strawberry is treated of at length; and, after quoting from the English copy, the American editor makes the following remarks:

"The American reader, though he will find much which will instruct in the culture of this delicious fruit, will perceive there is too much detail and tedious labor."

"Many of the varieties named in the preceding article are comparatively unknown in this country, and others have been tested, and found wanting. Our American seedlings have, on the whole, given most satisfaction, and are most reliable; whilst the efforts now being made to produce varieties promise, from the success already attained, to give all that could be desired.". p. 571.

The editor has shown his good judgment in describing only four or five varieties, as there are, in fact, less than that number of superior kinds. Two only are figured; namely, Hovey's seedling and the Cushing, a variety raised by Dr. Brinkle, of Philadelphia. It is gratifying to us to know that our seedling has proved so excellent everywhere. The editor states that "too much cannot be said in its praise." The editor has also the correct opinion of its character; and adopts our conclu sion, that it will not bear without being in the neighborhood of staminate kinds.

Ross's Phoenix, which has been so highly praised by some individuals, has, so far, proved unworthy of cultivation in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. Such has been the experience around Boston; and its growth is now nearly given up. We never yet saw so small a quantity as one quart of the Ross's Phoenix, although it has been grown about Boston these six years. Like the Swanstone seedling, the vines nearly all burn up in summer, and what few remain are quite killed by the winter. Experience thus shows the fallacy of cultivating every new variety of strawberry because it is a seedling, and also the importance of giving a new variety a trial of more than one year before it is propagated and sold as superior to

all others.

The Cushing is stated to be very large, high-flavored, and productive we shall speak of it after we have given it a trial. A plant was exhibited before the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, in 1846, with twenty-six fine berries on it. Mr. Breck, who, in company with Mr. Haggerston and other cultivators, visited our garden last summer, to inspect a large bed of the Seedling and the Boston Pine, counted one hundred and forty-three berries on a single plant of the latter. We are eager to possess a variety which will excel this in productiveness.

In conclusion, we can commend the American edition for considerable originality, and for its adaptation to the wants of a large class of cultivators. The volume treats upon every subject which comes within the province of the garden. A full monthly calendar is given; and, with the various classes of plants which are treated upon, a list of all the most select and choice varieties. It is printed in a small, neat type, and is embellished with a number of engravings.

ART. III. The Journal of the Horticultural Society of London. In Quarterly Numbers 8vo. Eighty pages each.

WE some time since announced the publication of this Journal, which commences a new series, in a cheap octavo form; the old and expensive quarto having been discontinued, after running the society deeply into debt. This series commenced on the 1st of January 1847, and one volume complete, and parts 1 and 2 of the second, have been issued. We have already given several extracts from the first volume, but very little has yet appeared which could be considered of much interest to a majority of our readers. The papers have been long, and some of them rather dry,-more theoretical than practical, as a majority of the communications have been, and ever will be. The magazines of the day, appearing as they do weekly or monthly, are the sources to which the cultivator looks for information, and the source through which the practical man prefers to communicate with his professional brethren.

The chief value of the Journal of the Society is the publication of its own transactions, which interest a very large number of fellows who look to it for an account of what is doing in the Society's Garden,--for descriptions of all the new plants, trees, shrubs, fruits, vegetables, &c., which are introduced through the Society's Botanical collectors and correspondents for the details of Experiments carried on in the garden and for scientific discussions in the various branches of Horticulture.

Among the scientific papers, one of the most valuable is an essay on "Hybridization amongst Vegetables," by the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Herbert, which fills a larger part of two numbers of the work. The Rev. author arrives at the following conclusions relative to the specific difference of plants :

"When the generic characters, as ultimately stated by Enlicher, of Pisum, the pea and Vicia, to which the bean belongs, are carefully compared, it will appear that, except a little prolongation and straighter position of the flower, which, in some other races, would be immaterial, the only fixed feature of difference is the asserted roundness of the seed in pea, and its lateral compression in the vetch and bean, a feature which, if the fact were undeniable, is insignificant in many other genera. If the pea,

vetch, and erect bean have sprung from one type, and are convertible, to what result does that fact lead us? Can we maintain a multiplicity of created roses, cistuses, potentillas, cornflags, and irises, in the face of that fact? Are we not forced thereby to the points, which I urged above thirty years ago, that the genera are the substantial divisions in botany; that the asserted difference between the species and local varieties of botanists has no firm basis; and that it is a matter deserving grave consideration, whether even a multitude of established genera are not variations from fewer original kinds, of which the real limitation may be found in a higher position amongst tribes, classes, or orders? And, if that point be established, as I humbly think it must be in the vegetable kingdom, upon what footing will the species and varieties of zoologists stand, when the analogies between plants and animals are fully considered, which it is not my province, and which I do not pretend to have sufficient depth of knowledge, to investigate?" -p. 103.

In our early volumes, (I. II. and III.), we gave two capital articles on the cultivation of asparagus, which is rarely seen in good perfection. As many of our present readers may not possess those volumes, we extract the substance of a paper on its culture, as detailed in the first part of Vol. II. :

:

"In selecting the ground for permanent beds, choose a piece free from trees, and sloping to the south, if possible. I should prefer a strong sandy loam of the depth of three feet; if not naturally so deep, make it that depth artificially. Take out a trench two feet six inches wide and three feet deep, laying one third of the soil on the vacant ground where you commence, and carrying the other to the place where you intend to finish. Suppose the trench to be now taken out, and the ground ready for trenching, lay over the whole surface six inches in depth of dung from old hotbeds, shaking it well with a fork. Turn in the first spit and crumb with a full-length spade into the bottoin of the trench, mixing the dung and soil thoroughly together with a fork; then throw on the other soil, until the second trench is the same depth as the first; and so proceed until you come to the last trench, into which throw half the earth taken back, and add dung equal to that for the first spit, mixing it and the soil well together with a fork, as before. Now that the ground has been once trenched over, and the bottom spit thoroughly mixed, tread the whole surface, and again lay on it about six inches in depth of dung, shaking it well as before. Then proceed to trench the ground back, leaving the bottom spit that has been mixed with manure unmolested. Proceed as before: after the first spit and crumb have been turned in, mix the dung and soil well together with a fork, which will be two thirds of the trench mixed, throwing on the top the remainder of the earth unmixed with dung, until you come to the first spit that has been mixed, and so continue until the ground has been all trenched a second time; then throw in the earth laid out at the commencement of the trenching, adding dung equal to that for the spit just thrown in, and well mixing VOL. XIII.-NO. VI.

26

it with the soil. There will now be an opening at the top, and one third of the earth left at the bottom. Tread the whole surface over, and again lay on six inches in depth of dung, forking it up the hill, and keeping the same opening. The whole mass of earth and dung will then be thoroughly mixed from bottom to top, and the opening will take the remainder of the earth thrown out of the first trench.

The work should be done in dry (not frosty) weather-say, in October. The ground being thus prepared, throw it up in rough spits, one spade deep, to be pulverized by the frost against planting time.

My time of planting is, when I observe the plants to have grown about an inch above the ground in the seed-bed, choosing a dry day when the soil will work freely. After having marked out my beds four feet in width, and having allowed two feet for the alleys, I strain a garden line on each side, and, as before mentioned, with a rake draw the soil equally off the bed into the alleys about two inches and a half deep. I then strain the line exactly through the middle of the bed, and, with the point of a dibble, make light marks one foot six inches apart. That being done, I then strain the lines nine inches from the margins of the bed, being a distance of one foot three inches from the middle row to the outside ones. These I mark in the same way as I did the middle one; but so that the plants will not be opposite each other. Every thing being now ready, plants are obtained from the seed-bed, selecting the finest, and exposing them as little as possible to sun and air. I place one plant over each mark made in the bed, spreading the roots out as regularly as possible on the surface, and laying, as I proceed, a little soil with the hand from the alleys on the plants, in order to fix them in their places. The bed being planted, I strain the lines on the outside, and, with a spade, throw the soil from the alleys over the crowns, covering them about an inch and a half, but not deeper. If any burned vegetable matter can be obtained from the rubbish heap, I should recommend coating the beds over about half an inch in depth with it, after they have been planted. In autumn, when the stalks are ripe, cut them down close, and clean off the beds, taking care not to disturb the soil, the crowns being so near the surface. Make a mixture of equal parts rotten dung and burned garden rubbish, and coat the beds with it three inches in thickness, just covering it with soil from the alleys. In this state, allow them to remain during winter, and, early in March, run it through with a fork down to the level of the bed when covered.

I have cut a few heads the second year after planting; but in the third year one half the fine asparagus that comes up may be cut without injuring the plants. The fourth year, the beds are in fine bearing condition; and when in this state, my method is, to keep every thing cut, both large and small, up to the first or second week in June, with the exception of the heads selected for producing seed. After this time, I allow the whole to take its natural growth, and I find my beds to continue for years in a good bearing state. Some of them were made ten years ago, and I have cut finer asparagus from them this season than I did three years back. And I